Whitewash
by Jaswinder
Summary: Asuka isn't sure about anything anymore, but Manjoume is. His newfound faith is inspiring, captivating, and absolutely terrifying. [Asuka oneshot] [Hints of White Thunder x Asuka] [Religious undertones]


**Author's Notes: **Blame Episode 82, I guess. This is set at the end of that episode. I actually don't know if Asuka was upset at any point during that episode, but she seemed to be upset at something during Manjoume's duel with Misawa.

**Pairings:** Underlying White Thunder x Asuka. Thunder, not Manjoume; as far as I'm concerned, they're two different people.

**Warnings: **It's hard to say what this fic is and isn't, since it's not exactly as it seems. I guess it's fitting, since neither is the subject matter. At first glance, it might seem like some kind of religious propaganda; at second glance, _anti-_religious propaganda. It's both these things and neither, so read carefully before being offended by either.

And oh yeah, spoilers.

---

_Beware of false prophets  
Which come to you in sheep's clothing  
But inwardly  
They are ravening wolves.  
_ Matthew 7:15

Asuka wasn't sure what she was seeing. Whatever it was, she didn't think she liked it.

It was a bright, cool night, and they stood on a the tip of a precipice overlooking an ocean filled with the reflections of stars. The moon was full and low in the sky. A salty wind ran through her hair and made her shiver. She hoped it was the wind, at least, and not the words coming from Manjoume.

"We're like the stars, and Saiou-sama, the moon. Even when the world's fallen into darkness, we pierce it with the power of Light. Though we are but pinpricks compared to him, we do our part."

He wasn't looking at her; his gaze was firmly on the midnight heavens, and his hands were spread, as if he wanted to catch as much moonlight as possible on his skin. His voice was instilled with a kind of reverence that Asuka had never gotten used to hearing from him, in all the time she'd been in the White Society.

"By its nature, darkness _cannot_ win against us. That's what happened, back there. Darkness tried to act through Misawa, but it failed, as it always will. That's why he looked so haunted -- because he was in the absence of Light. I know you were scared for him, but you don't have to be, Tenjoin-kun. He's seen as we have seen, and he's in the providence of Light."

He spoke with such conviction that the hairs on the back of her neck stiffened.

"Everyone will see soon enough. Maybe even Juudai -- wouldn't that be something? It's so easy to see how misguided he is, now, and I was so similar to him. Maybe I was worse. He's so full of arrogance that he shuts out the Light and festers in darkness. So much so that Saiou-sama cannot even get through to his friends. It's such a good thing Misawa had drifted from them, or else he would not have been saved tonight..."

Asuka was a rational girl. In all her life, she had never been personally exposed to such overtly religious language, or the tone that accompanied them. The closest thing she could remember were the odd ideas her brother had about spreading love to the whole of humanity, but those had been easy to dismiss. But that could've been because it was hard to take Fubuki seriously.

Manjoume smiled genuinely as he stared at the moon. "He's going to be happy now. He sees now that his friends in darkness were no friends at all. They left him alone and lost. But now that he has seen, he knows he has our love and more importantly, the love of Light..."

That it was _Manjoume_ talking like this now -- Manjoume, who had always been full of pride, Manjoume, the epitome of self-reliance, Manjoume, the most cynical and bitter person she had known -- talking with such humble hope, all but praying aloud, was singularly disturbing.

It made her wonder, fearfully, if she was as immune to his contagious ideas of Light as she thought she was. If even he could be so changed in the face of all he was, it might not matter how logical or reasonable or rational she tried to be. Maybe no one was safe.

"It was his destiny to be with us, and now that destiny has been fulfilled. The world is that much closer to total immersion in the greatness of the Light."

Though she had accepted the Light, she was not half as entrenched as Manjoume was, and she kept silent her doubts and reservations. But somehow, he sensed this, and he went out of his way to assuage her unspoken fears and give her reasons to believe. It was as if he could no more contain his desire to proselytize her than he could his irrational desire to court her before his own conversion.

But this was different. He had confidence now. Real, true confidence, not something supported only by haughty words and flashy trenchcoats. He was now brimming with the same kind of quiet power she had secretly admired in Ryou, with none of the cold aloofness.

Though he commanded respect in the dueling arena and flaunted his position as Saiou's most important disciple in front of the rest of the White Society, he let down his pretenses of leadership when he was alone with her. It was hard to watch him when he was around anyone else. His blind devotion to Saiou was unsettling, and the way he lorded over the other students in the White dorm made her grimace. In these times, it was easy for her to retain herself and internally distance herself from the rest of the cul-- organization.

But in the quiet times when it was just him and her, he no longer seemed to be so much White Thunder, chosen by the Light and Saiou, as he was good old Manjoume, deeply touched and changed by something Asuka was afraid to even wonder about. And it was those times that he stirred something in her. Sometimes she wasn't sure if he was just trying to convert her or still trying to woo her, and worse, she was afraid he was succeeding at both.

"Asuka," he started, and she shook herself from her thoughts. She realized he was looking at her now, and not the sky. Manjoume was still smiling. "You haven't been paying attention to a word I've said, have you?"

Asuka's breath hitched, and she felt caught. It must have shown on her face somehow, since he chuckled and wordlessly drew closer. The sensation of his arm settling across her shoulders gave her butterflies in her stomach. A month ago, he never would've dared, and she never would've allowed him that.

Now she felt like putty in his hands. He seemed so sure of everything, and she felt so sure of nothing. Saiou had given him some kind of strength that he must've needed. Maybe she needed it too. Manjoume seemed almost _happy_, and she had never seen him like that before Saiou came along. His change in attitude somehow drew her closer to wanting to believe than anything he could've said.

Manjoume's shoulder was warm. Asuka didn't know if he had tugged her closer or if she had leaned into him on her own. "I promise you, Tenjoin-kun, Misawa won't be the last. You yourself have seen how greatly darkness can overcome someone; but even Kaiser can be saved by the Light. I know how important he is to you."

Asuka blinked into the white cloth of his shoulderpad. They could save Ryou...?

He lowered his head and voice. She could feel him breathing on her bangs. "In the end, even Juudai can come around to the truth. And your brother. They'll see, and we'll all be together, joined in the love of the Light..."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his hand coming closer, but she was too immobile to face it. His fingers settled on her cheek and grazed the skin until they met her jaw and temple. His thumb ran along her cheekbone and brushed away tears she hadn't even realized were gathering at the corner of her eye. It was hard to breath.

"No amount of darkness can stand up to the awesome power of Light, to Saiou-sama, for the Light acts through him..."

His hold on her shoulders became a gentle squeeze, and he pulled her into his chest in a hug that felt impossibly warm and light-headed. She could feel her heart palpitating. Asuka almost felt like she was floating, being drawn into something bigger and stronger than her, either love or this Light thing he kept going on about, or both...

"Light will overcome everyone, everything in the world and nothing will be the same again... Nothing can stop it."

It was almost a completely wonderful feeling. The temptation to give in wasn't so scary now. She lifted her head, and met his gaze.

"Darkness and all its allies will fall to the mercilessness of Light..."

Several things happened simultaneously. His soothing voice suddenly took on a cold, knife-like edge, and that edge cut sharply through the fog that had been swirling around her mind. Manjoume's grip on her had become hard and possessive. And his eyes...

For all he talked about light, there was none to be found in his eyes. They were glazed over and unfocused with pure zealotry. Distantly, beyond that sheen of madness, Asuka saw a glint of someone that was as trapped and horrified as she suddenly was.

"Light will dominate completly, and those foolish enough to try and stop it will be **destroyed**."

A changed Manjoume may have been able to draw her in close enough to make her fall.

But now she knew he hadn't changed at all.

Manjoume was simply _gone_.


End file.
